2015 veto session concludes

Dan Hegeman

There was no shortage of activity in Jefferson City last week, as lawmakers and interested citizens descended on the Capitol for the General Assembly’s annual veto session.

While there was plenty of heated debate, in less than 12 hours, the House and Senate supermajorities were able to override the governor’s veto of 10 important measures that will benefit Missouri citizens and bolster our economy.

Unlike regular session, when only a simple majority is required to pass a bill, a successful veto override requires a two-thirds majority in each chamber: 23 votes in the Senate and 109 votes in the House.

Each vetoed measure must first be taken up and overridden in its originating chamber. If a bill is not brought forward, or fails to achieve the two-thirds majority, it dies and fails to become law.

Ultimately there were six bills that were not brought forward for consideration or failed to obtain the votes necessary.

Most notable among the failed bills was House Bill 116, legislation that would’ve made Missouri the 26th “Right-to-Work” state. House Bill 116 failed to achieve a two-thirds majority in the House and never made it to the Senate for further consideration.

The 10 vetoed measures successfully overridden by the Missouri Legislature and are now law includeed:

• House Bill 150 tying the duration of unemployment benefits to the state’s unemployment rate;

• House Bill 618 regarding the disposition of human remains and the electronic vital records system;

• House Bill 722 prohibiting cities and counties from adopting certain types of ordinances, including minimum wage increases that exceed state standards and bans on plastic shopping bags;

• House Bill 878 relating to the licensing and commissioning of corporate security advisors by the Department of Public Safety;

• House Bill 1022 authorizing a return of premiums paid by insureds;

• House Bill 1098 modifying provisions relating to trust companies;

• Senate Bill 20 creating a tax exemption for materials and utilities used by commercial laundries;

• Senate Bill 142 requiring the Department of Natural Resources to prepare an implementation impact report when submitting certain plans to the Environmental Protection Agency;

• Senate Bill 224 requiring a student to be a United States citizen or permanent resident in order to be eligible to receive reimbursements from the A+ Schools Program, and

• Senate Bill 345 allowing lenders to increase the fee on loans lasting 30 days or longer from $75 to $100;

These 10 bills are in addition to two measures (Senate Bill 24 and House Bill 63) lawmakers previously overrode during the regular legislative session.

After the completion of the 2015 veto session, Missouri’s governor now has the distinction of being the most overridden governor in the history or our state.